Man denies imprisoning wife, children

UPPSALA, Sweden, July 13 (UPI) -- A Swedish man has denied abusing and imprisoning his wife and preventing their four children from attending school, police said.

The Uppsala man, whose name was not released, was arrested June 27 after police responded to a disturbance call at the home, the Swedish news agency TT reported Monday.

The man has pleaded innocent to illegal imprisonment and gross violation of a woman's integrity, prosecutors said.

The children, ages 16 to 22, told police they had never been to school, the newspaper Uppsala Nya Tidning reported.

The man allegedly used threats and violence to control his wife and prevent his children from going out in public alone. The children were seen in public only when accompanied by their father, neighbors told police.

"You wonder how it's possible to be born in Sweden and not attend school," Uppsala police spokesman Christer Nordstrom said.